Easel for pictures



(No Model.) Y

, J. BERBECKER.

BASEL FOR PICTURES, &c.

No. 581,098. Patented Apr. 20,1897,

NITE STATES JULIUS BERBECKER, OF VVATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

EASEL FOR PICTURES, 81,0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 581,098, dated April 20, 1897.

Application filed September 16, 1896. $erial No. 606,960. (No model.) A

To all whom, it may concern;

Be it known that I, JULIUS BERBEOKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at \Vaterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in Easels for Pictures or Similar Articles, of which the following is a specification.

Easels have heretofore been constructed for holding photographic pictures and other articles in which a back brace or support is hinged or pivoted so as to fold for transportation, and in some instances the back leg has been introduced into an opening, so as to be pulled out.

The present invention is for rendering the easel very stiif and reliable when put together for use and for allowing the parts to be easily separated and packed together fiat, or nearly so, so as to occupy but little space.

In my improved easel the inclined support for the article is made of a metal tube or similar article bent into the desired form and having two ends or feet upon which it is supported, and there are perforations at a suitable distance from the lower ends of the support for receiving into them the. ends of a tube forming a shelf or support, and the backbrace is slipped into the ends of the tube of the shelf. Hence the shelf and the back-brace are rigidly connected, and the ends of the shelf passing into the inclined support are firmly held into position; but the parts are easily separated by withdrawing the ends of the back-brace and separating the ends of the shelf from the support, and the parts can be more or less ornamental, and they are preferably tubular, so as to obtain a proper size and with as little weight as is consistent with strength.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of the improved easel, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; and Fig. 3 is a section in larger size at the intersection of the brace, shelf, and inclined support.

The inclined support A is advantageously made of a metal tube .With two parallel, or nearly parallel, sides, the tube being bent at the upper end of the support; and ornamental feet are represented at 2. This inclined support, however, may be either of a metal or other tube, or it may be a casting of any desired ornamental configuration. There are two holes, one in each leg or side part of the inclined support, through which the ends of the brace B pass, and this brace B can be of wire or tubular, with two sides parallel, or nearly so, to each other and with the back portion of the brace semicircular or any other desired configuration, and it is advantageous to employ shoulders or projections at 3 upon the brace to come against the back surfaces of the inclined support adjacentto the holes through which the ends of the brace pass, and the shelf C is tubular at its ends, so that the ends of said shelf can be thrust over" the ends of the brace, and it is advantageous to make the holes in the front portion of the inclined sup- .port sufficiently large for the back ends of the shelf to pass into such holes, and the tubular ends of the shelf should fit the ends of the brace sufficiently tight for the parts to hold together firmly when the easel is put together for use. The shelf 0 may be of any desired configuration or construction, but when made of a tube, as shown, the parts are light and inexpensive; and when the shelf is made of a tube there may be a knurled rib or bead (1 upon the metallic tube and adjacent to the end portions that pass into the holes in the inclined support, so that such ribs or beads limit the movement of the ends of the shelf as thrust into the holes in the inclined support.

hen the easel is to be packed for transportation, the ends of the brace are separated or pulled out of the ends of the shelf and the parts are packed together flatwise, so as to occupy little or no more space than the inclined support, as the shelf and brace are usually laid in between the side portions of the inclined support.

I claim as my invention 1. The easel having an inclined support with openings through the side portions and near the lower ends, a shelf having ends that pass into the openings in the side portions of the inclined support and a brace having ends that pass through such openings in the said side portions and into the tubular ends of the shelf, substantially as set forth.

2. The easel having an inclined support with openings through the side portions and near the lower ends, a shelf having ends that pass into the openings in the side portions of the inclined support, and ahraeehming ends that pass through such openings in the said side portions and into the tubular ends of the shelf, there being projections near the ends of the brace and shelf to limit the movements of the parts as they are put together, substantially as set forth. 1o

Signed by me this 10th day of September, 1896.

JULIUS BERB'ICCKER. \Yitnesses:

CHAS. II. Axnnits, ADAM \VENDEL. 

